Where else, in the middle of a hike, can you put on snorkeling gear, jump into the warm water of a coral reef and be surrounded by dozens of yellow butterfly fish?

Oh, and you're also likely to see humuhumunukunukuapua'a, the Hawaii state fish.

To top it off, you're at one of the major historical sites of 18th-century exploration. This is where British Capt. James Cook, on his third circumnavigation of the globe, was killed by the Hawaiians in 1779.

A big white monument marks the spot.

The only inconvenient thing about this hike is that when you're done snorkeling, you need to walk back an hour and a half, up 1,500 feet, in the midday heat of another sunny day on the Kona Coast.

Whoever said life is easy?

Kealakekua Bay is the hike's destination, 12 miles south of Kailua-Kona. One of the most magical of Hawaii's many magical places, the tough-to-pronounce bay was formed when an earthquake triggered a landslide.

The quake left a thousand-foot cliff sheltering the bay's north side, giving the bay southern exposure. That usually means calm water, even when Kona winds churn up the ocean around it.

Kealakekua Bay is certainly not a secret. Commercial snorkel boats visit it daily, as do many individual paddlers. After my visit last winter, the state instituted a landing permit requirement for kayakers in an effort to control the chaos.

The hiking trail is less known, though descriptions show up in some guidebooks. But not even the crew at the Big Island tourism firm could tell me how to find it.

The trail has no signs, so it took some sleuthing on my part to locate the starting point. Once I found it, the trail was in good shape for walking all the way to the ocean.

Unlike Oregon and other Western states, Hawaii lacks public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service or BLM. So finding a place for a hike in a wild setting is a treat.

To hike to Kealakekua Bay, you park in a neighborhood, scoot between houses as cocks crow and sheep bleat, then descend an uninhabited area covered by lava from the Hualalai volcano.

The trail is easy to find, as long as you're looking for it and can follow directions.

Drive south of Kailua-Kona for 12 miles on the main road, Hawaii 11. At the community of Captain Cook, a sign points downhill to the right for Napoopoo Road and Kealakekua Bay.

Immediately after you make the turn, park along the road, because signs say "no parking" closer to the trail.

Walk downhill along Napoopoo Road 300 yards and notice a mowed path, on the ocean side, that passes through 10-foot tall grass. Directly across the street, on the mountain side, is a mailbox for 81-6236 Napoopoo Road.

Kealakekua Bay

Follow directions in accompanying story for the hike to Kealakekua Bay.

Hikers do not need a permit.

Call 808-974-6200 to inquire about the landing permit for paddlers (allow two weeks’ processing time).

Check with Big Island Kayak at 800-979-3370 or bigislandkayak.com for an $80 guided kayak tour to Cook’s Monument.

To join a snorkel boat tour, look online at fair-wind.com or call 800-677-9461. Price is $125. Discounts are available by booking online.

Take the path downhill two miles to the Pacific, about an hour and 15 minutes for me. Curve left at the bottom to trail's end at Cook's Monument. The path is fairly steep, with lots of loose lava rocks, so I was glad I brought hiking shoes and poles.

Don snorkeling gear at the monument's concrete wall and jump in. You will be swimming among too many fish to count, with coral growing a few feet beneath the surface in a 315-acre Hawaiian marine park.

Hauling out over the wet lava is slippery, but it isn't a problem if you avoid spiky sea urchins just beneath the water's surface.

The Fairwind, the bay's biggest snorkel boat, anchors away from the monument, so snorkelers who hike don't share space with 150 passengers the boat brings twice daily from its Keauhou Bay marina.

But this is a busy place, so head down the trail early to find an undisturbed bay.

The white obelisk that is Cook's Monument was erected by Englishmen in 1874. The marker is a reminder of the discoveries Cook made, but also of how natives suffered after first contact with Europeans.

On Feb. 14, 1779, a dispute boiled over and Cook was run through with a spear.

The previous summer, Cook had named Cape Foulweather in Oregon, overhauled his ship on Vancouver Island and sailed north to Alaska until ice stopped his progress.

News of Cook's death reached London six months after it happened. A letter posted by his surviving crew traveled overland across Siberia faster than the crew could sail home around the Cape of Good Hope.